'A little bit of comfort' in Nicholas' name

It has one goal, Joanna Veghts of Joliet said: to bring comfort and joy to children battling cancer and other critical illnesses. Its largest fundraiser is the I’m Possible 5K; the fundraising goal is $10,000, Veghts said.

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Team Nicholas also hosts a Building Spirits Lego Drive. There’s also Koins for Kids, which Madalyn Veghts, 13, heads up. The Team Nicholas website said Madalyn collected $2,300 this year.
“She uses that money on items for just oncology kids and their siblings,” Joanna said.
Why this passion for kids with cancer? Because of Nicholas.

Why this passion for kids with cancer? Because of Nicholas, pictured above.

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July 4, 2011
That was the day Joanna and Bart’s 8-year-old son, Nicholas, was diagnosed with leukemia. While on vacation, Nicholas “wasn’t himself” and his lymph nodes in his neck had grown very large, Joanna said.
Still, Joanna was expecting the diagnosis, she said.

(The Veghts family post in what was to be their last family photo. Pictured are (in back) Bart and Joanna and (in front) Madalyn and Nicholas).

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“Unfortunately with modern technology, when you ‘Google’ enlarged lymph nodes on a child – I didn’t want it to be true, but when you look at WebMD, that’s the diagnosis you see,” Joanna said. “So I was kind of expecting it, but I was still in complete shock.”

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Nicholas had a mixed type of leukemia, a combination of acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Joanna said. The day after his diagnosis, Nicholas went to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, where he began treatment right away since his cancer was very aggressive, Joanna said.
“Basically from July 5 to Dec. 5, he was going through treatment,” Joanna said.

(Above, Nicholas hangs out with his dad, Bart).

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Sometimes treatment was outpatient and sometimes it was inpatient, Joanna said. But she clearly remembers Dec. 5. That was the day Nicholas developed a fungal infection, one his weakened immune system struggled to fight.
“He basically went into the hospital on Dec. 5 and never came out,” Joanna said.

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Nicholas died Feb. 28, 2012, a week before his ninth birthday, Joanna said. It was while Nicholas was in the hospital that his family began Team Nicholas.

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Thank you, Audrey Hepburn
“I saw a quote, I think on Facebook, that said, ‘Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible,’” Joanna said.
A few families from Central Elementary School in Plainfield where Nicholas attended wanted to help, Joanna said. So the family formed Team Nicholas and got involved, too.
In the meantime, Joanna made a copy of the quote and placed it in Nicholas’ room.

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“They ended up doing a used book sale and we sold bracelets,” Joanna said. “After Nicholas passed away, we figured we could help families at the hospital and just bring a little comfort. We were in the pediatric ICU for so long, we saw many families that needed a little bit of comfort.”

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Team Nicholas’ initial efforts were aimed at the child life specialists at Comer, the “behind-the-scenes people” who “give you whatever you need” during treatment.
Joanna also called them “miracle workers” and a “a gift for a lot of families.”

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“With Nicholas we got a handprint of his before he passed away that’s set in a little stone so we have something to remember him by,” Joanna said.

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Recently, Team Nicholas bought an American Girl Bitty Baby doll for a 2-year-old going through treatment during her birthday month. And Team Nicholas was happy to do it.
“It helps keep Nicholas’ memory alive,” Joanna said.

(Above, Madalyn Veghts poses with her parents, Bart and Joanna, with the money she raised for pediatric patients through her Koins for Kids).

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One important component is celebrating with families the day their child completes treatment, a bittersweet celebration for the Veghts.
“We wish Nicholas could have gone through his,” Joanna said, “but he is watching us from above.”

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KNOW MORE

According to its website at www.teamnicholas.org, Team Nicholas

• Makes monthly donations to Comer Children's hospital, Edward/Elmhurst hospital, and Central DuPage's child life department: art supplies, games, comfort items and toys for the children and teens to use either in the play room or their hospital room.

• Also makes holiday donations for each holiday, including Easter, Halloween, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

• Provides regularly scheduled meals at the Ronald McDonald Room at Edward Hospital. [ ] Hot meals are also provided for all family members of an admitted child in the PICU and NICU.

• Also provides a special "pre-Thanksgiving" meal to families at Comer Children's Hospital.

Donations are always welcome. One may donate on the website or send a check to Team Nicholas, 3607 Thoroughbred Lane, Joliet, Illinois, 60435. For more information, visit the website, call 1-630-709-8442 or email teamnicholas2012@gmail.com.